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Home › Dodgy Deals ›
Dodgy Deal
Czeczott coal power plantPoland

Project – On record

This profile is no longer actively maintained, with the information now possibly out of date
Profile by:
BankTrack & Polish Green Network
Contact:

Joanna Flisowska, Polish Green Network

Last update: 2016-11-01 15:23:00
Czeczott power plant. Photo: CC license Wikimedia author: 54t0rii

Project – On record

This profile is no longer actively maintained, with the information now possibly out of date
Profile by:
BankTrack & Polish Green Network
Contact:

Joanna Flisowska, Polish Green Network

Last update: 2016-11-01 15:23:00
Why this profile?

What must happen

No administrative procedure has started yet. Kompania Weglowa S.A. is in a bad financial condition. Potential investors should be aware that Czeczott investment is linked with Opole power plant investment. Currently the only thing that saves financial situation of Kompania Weglowa S.A is a contract with Opole power plant concerning future coal supply for units that are planned to be built. In view of fatal financial condition of Kompania Weglowa S.A, investing in Czeczott power plant is very risky.

Private banks should then not provide any financial services linked to this project in any way.

About
Sectors Coal Electric Power Generation
Location
Status
Planning
Design
Agreement
Construction
Operation
Closure
Decommission

The planned Czeczott coal power plant in Poland is a 900-1,000 MW hard-coal-fired power project located in the Wola village in Silesia (Slaskie Voivodship), on the area of a former coal mine. The project, worth EUR 1.5 billion, is planned by Kompania Weglowa S.A., the largest coal mining company in Poland and the EU. The power plant is due to be completed by 2019, although if more than 51% of the project's equity comes to be owned by a partner within the European Union, the construction could benefit from certain exemptions and be accelerated. However, Kompania Weglowa expects an Asian investor to become a majority partner in the project.

The power plant will burn between 2.5 and 3.5 tonnes of coal per year and produce 5-7 TWh of electricity annually. As part of the preparations for the investment, Kompania Weglowa has started to act to gain the necessary land for building the plant, as analyses show that the areas currently owned by Kompania Weglowa are not adequate.

At the end of June 2013, Kompania Weglowa announced that three companies are interested in becoming a partner in the investment: Mitsui & Co., Ltd; Samsung C & T Corporation and Sepco Elektric Power Construction Corporation. A specially appointed body will choose and negotiate the best offer. Once the candidate for a partner will be chosen it will be exclusively entitled to conduct negotiations. The project is awaiting the first official permissions that will allow it to continue with investment. As the company did not fulfill some of the formal conditions, it still has to complement its documentation.

Impacts

Social and human rights impacts

The region will be locked in to an outdated mode of energy production for the next 40-50 years and thus will not be able to shift into the resource efficient renewables-based economy. The construction on the new Czeczott unit would also prolong the dependence of Silesia region on hard-coal potentially leading to new investments into hard-coal mining and thus leading to the increased risk of stranded assets as the requirements of the climate and energy policy of the EU dictated by the requirements of climate science will put an ever increasing pressure on the coal-based energy generation.

One of the main problems of communities living in the area of the investment is the bad air quality of the Silesia region. On the 21st of November 2011, the European Commission has sued Poland in the European Court of Justice for lack of progress against the Ambient Air Quality and Cleaner Air for Europe (CAFE) Directive (2008/50/EC), which should have been implemented in Poland by 11th June 2010. The directive requires in particular that the PM10 (larger dust particles) level does not exceed 50 miligrams/m³ more than 35 times a year. However this PM10 level is breached with much higger frequency in most Polish metropolitan areas in the Silesia region. Protests caused by citizen dissatisfaction with poor air quality have already led to changes in regional legislation in the neighbouring Malopolskie Voivoship and its capital – Krakow.

The local health impacts from coal mining, transportation and combustion are also a significant concern, and communities living in proximity to these activities are experiencing adverse social impacts, such as loss of amenity, displacement, and loss of social capital as well as facing increased risks of respiratory disease, heart disease, and lung cancer.

Both the Polish constitution and European Union legislation guarantee the right to live in a clean environment, and the quality of the air that citizens breathe every day is part of that right. The local health impacts from coal mining, transportation and combustion are also a significant concern, and communities living in proximity to these activities experience adverse social impacts including displacement and loss of social capital, as well as facing increased risks of respiratory disease, heart disease, and lung cancer.


Environmental and climate impacts

Burning coal is one of the most polluting methods of energy production. It causes significant changes to air quality through emissions of toxic substances such as SO2, NOx, small and large dust particles (PM10 and PM2.5) and heavy metals such as mercury and cadmium. Coal burning is also the largest single contributor to GHG emissions worldwide and thus has an impact on the climate of the region and the planet. Coal mining and coal combustion also cause serious water shortages and pollution both by modifying ground and subterranean water flows and sewage discharges that affect river and sea flora and fauna. One of the most serious secondary effects of pollution from coal combustion is ocean acidification and acid rains.

The Silesia region is already struggling with very bad air condition, and the new unit would do little to improve it. In fact replacing the ageing units 1 to 4 with small renewable based co-generation heat and power plants and drastically improving thermal efficiency of the buildings in Silesia region as a whole would lead both to the improvement of the air quality in the region as well as to increase of energy security and employment opportunities.

Companies

Kompania Weglowa

Poland
Website
The main sponsor of the Czeczott power plant.
No companies
News
BankTrack
Partners
Blog
External
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

Poland: future Czeczott coal plant on hold

2017-04-09 | Health and Environment Alliance
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

Poland, Greece reject Eurelectric's no new coal plant after 2020 plan

2017-04-05 | Brussels | S&P Global Platts
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

Polish coal producer Kompania Weglowa delays power plant project

2012-08-08 | Platts
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

RWE Cancels Planned Czeczott Coal-Fired Power Plant in Poland, Heren Says

2010-09-09 | Bloomberg
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

RWE and Kompania Węglowa establish a new company RWE Elektrownia Czeczott

2009-08-19 | RWE
Resources
Links

SourceWatch on Czeczott power station

Self-government appeals board dismissed environmental permit for the project

Updates

2017

2017-04-05 00:00:00 | Weglowa suspends the Czeczott project

Polish developer Kompania Weglowa has suspended its plans to bring a 1 GW coal-fired plant at Czeczott Wola, Slaskie online by the end of 2020 (source S&P Global Platts).

2016

2016-04-02 00:00:00 | Letter of intent expired

The letter of intent between Kompania Weglowa (KW) and Mitsui regarding construction of Czeczott expired on the 31st of March 2016. A decision has not been made yet whether the new Kompania Weglowa will take over and forward the project (source nettg.pl).

2015

2015-04-09 00:00:00 | Czeczott coal plant on hold

Following the overturn of an environmental permit to build the new coal power plant, the Polish investor has now put the project on hold. HEAL together with local citizens and other groups have repeatedly raised concerns about this new coal plant and provided evidence on possible health impacts (source Health and Environment Alliance).

2014

2014-10-28 00:00:00 |

On September 26th Self-government Appeals Board dismissed environmental permit (previously contested by Society for Earth (TNZ) and local citizens).

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